


Push Back

by XProSkeith



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Push AU, Sciles, TW Reverse Bang, Teen Wolf Reverse Bang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-11 22:32:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4454948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XProSkeith/pseuds/XProSkeith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles has been working as a sniff for the Division for years now tracking down other psychics. He just received his new mission, a talented stitch named Scott McCall. Stiles hasn't seen his childhood best friend in years, but when he does, it stirs up old memories and feelings for both of them. Now Stiles must choose: Scott or the Division?  The choice is clear, but the Division won't let Stiles or Scott get away so easily. Now their true fight begins. Will their love be strong enough to win out against the Division?</p><p>This fic is part of the Teen Wolf Reverse Bang 2015 and it's accompanying art by <a href="http://daunt.tumblr.com/">daunt</a> and is displayed below!</p><p> </p><p>  <img/></p>
            </blockquote>





	Push Back

Stiles sat at the head of the table in a dark conference room, the sole light in the room hung above his head. He couldn’t make out the faces of the people sitting around it. Their faces were shrouded by the darkness of the room and the light above Stiles only made it harder to make them out.

But Stiles was used to this. This is how it always was with them. The Division. He never saw their faces. They just called him into this room, sat him at the table under the light, and gave him his mission. Stiles took the papers and tracked down his target. He always succeeded. After all, Stiles was the best sniffer the Division had ever seen. He prided himself in that. He knew their motives and actions were probably questionable at best, but the pay was good and he was good at what he did, so Stiles didn’t ask questions. It was better that way. That was until today, anyway.

Stiles looked down at the file in front of him and saw a name he never expected to see again. “Scott McCall” was emblazoned in large black letters across the front cover of the file along with the typical red “CLASSIFIED” stamp. There was no way it could be him. Stiles was sure. He’d have known if his childhood friend had psychic power. He was a sniffer. Then again, it had been years since he’d last seen Scott. Actually, the last time he saw Scott was just after his mom died when they were about ten years old.

Stiles opened the file and looked at the mug shot that was paperclipped to the top of the file. Stiles swallowed nervously. He was a lot older now, but there was no mistaking it. That was Scott. His Scott.

“That’s your next target,” said the man sitting at the other end of the table.

“I gathered that much. Thanks,” Stiles fired back sarcastically.

Stiles couldn’t see their eyes, but he was sure they were glaring at him. He smirked.

“He is of particular interest to us,” continued the man. “Track him down and bring him in.”

“You’ll be receiving your normal pay for the job as always,” said another person sitting around the table.

Stiles flipped through the file as he listened to them. As usual, there was next to nothing in the file. It was more or less a list of places the person might be and what type of power they had. Sometimes it had an object or piece of fabric from the person’s clothes to help him sniff them out. It rarely had more than that. Stiles wanted more this time.

“Why is he of particular interest to you?” asked Stiles.

“Like most targets we send you to sniff out, he has demonstrated special powers,” answered the man.

“All of us have special powers,” said Stiles, unimpressed with the answer.

The man sighed and continued, “You know what we mean. He was also hiding, another reason we want you to find him.”

“Yeah, I see in the file that he’s a stitch who runs some kind of underground clinic or hospital.”

“Indeed. Now go find him.”

“Why would you want to stop someone from doing something good?”

Stiles knew the answer to that question, but as he looked at the picture of Scott, he felt compelled to ask anyway.

“Who says what he’s doing is good? Besides, it is not your place to question us. We give you your assignment and you carry it out. It’s as simple as that.”

Stiles sighed. He knew he wouldn’t get any information out of them. Still, it concerned him how cold these people were. Maybe that was just because, for the first time ever, his target was someone he knew.

“Is there a problem, Stiles?” demanded the man. “We expect fast results as always. Do we need to reevaluate your position with us?”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Stiles as he got up from the table and made his way to the door. “I’m on it. No need to get your panties in a knot.”

Stiles heard the entire group start to grumble, but he ignored them and quickly exited the room, shutting the door behind him. He breathed a heavy sigh as he leaned back against the door, looking down at the file once more. Scott was his mission, no way around it. He’d have to do his job. Stiles always found them. No one, no matter how skilled at hiding or how good of a shadow they were, could hide from Stiles. More than anything, the Division valued him for his ability to combat the shadows, those who could hide people and objects from sniffers. There was only one thing to do. Stiles closed his eyes, focused, and touched the picture of Scott.

In an instant, Stiles’ mind flew across the country. He had never had such a strong reaction from just a picture before, but, then again, he did know Scott, so it made it easier. His mind’s eye began to settle. California. He was in California. Los Angeles to be exact.

Images of the surrounding area filled Stiles’ mind as he began to pinpoint Scott’s location. It seemed like a typical dirty alley in the big city. Then the door appeared. It was hidden in the walls of the alley, but it was there. Stiles’ mind passed through the doors. Inside was a surprisingly homey lobby. Finally, Stiles’ mind settled on a door. He passed through it and saw Scott. Stiles had found him.

Stiles opened his eyes and closed the file. He knew where Scott was. Looks like he was heading back home, back to California. Stiles headed for the airport, stopping only to pick up the tools he needed for the job.

* * *

Scott walked into the exam room where the next patient was waiting. Scott wasn’t formally dressed how you’d expect most doctors to be. He just wore jeans, a black tank top, and his white lab coat. Allison and Lydia had tried to convince him to be more professional, but Scott was more comfortable in these clothes. Besides, he found that the patients he saw at his clinic actually felt more at ease around someone who dressed more casually than a typical doctor. For some, Scott guessed it made him seem more normal and approachable, just like any other person.

Scott looked at his new patient, a young boy, no more than 8 years old, with a broken arm. He was sniffling and looked like he was trying to hold back his tears because the doctor had appeared. His mom sat next to him, trying her best to comfort him.

One of the major reasons Scott had left mainstream medicine and opened up this underground clinic was to help those who didn’t have access to health care. He thought it was wrong to deny people the help they needed. The other reason was to be able to put his gift to better use. After all, he was a very talented stitch.

Scott smiled warmly at the boy. The boy’s demeanor seemed to brighten a little just from Scott’s smile.

“Hey, now, don’t worry,” said Scott. “I’m going to fix you right up. You’ll be good as new in no time.”

The mother looked nervous as she spoke.

“We don’t have any money or insurance,” she explained. “But… I heard about your clinic. That you help people like us. Even though we have nothing to-”

Scott raised his hand to stop her, smiling at her as well.

“You heard right,” said Scott. “I opened this clinic especially for people like you. No one should be denied basic health care, not in today’s society. All I ask is that you keep this place a secret and that you pay only what you can. Does that sound okay?”

“Y-yes!” stammered the mother. “Thank you.”

Scott nodded and approached the boy. He gingerly place his hands on the boys arm. The boy winced slightly as Scott made contact with the injury, but he didn’t pull away or protest. Scott would be gentle. He was always especially careful with the kids.

Scott focused, feeling the injury inside the boy, finding the cells that he needed. With little effort, he urged them to regenerate and they complied. Stitching people came naturally to Scott. The knowledge he’d obtained from years of medical school filled his mind, guiding his powers and granting a new level of precision. In a matter of seconds, the boy’s arm had completely healed.

Scott released the boy’s arm. The boy looked stunned for a moment, but a big grin spread across his face as he realized the pain was gone and he could move his arm freely again. He flailed his arm around happily.

“Thanks, mister!” said the boy.

“Ah, you’re a stitch,” said the mother in mild surprise. “That makes sense I suppose.”

“Yeah. I want to use my powers to help people,” said Scott. “But that’s also why I need to keep this place secret. Only tell someone if they’re in need, like you. That’s all I ask.”

“Of course! Your secret is safe with us,” nodded the mother. “I swear I’ll try to find some way to pay you.”

Scott shook his head and said, “You don’t have to, but if you want to come back another time and leave something, you can. It doesn’t have to be money either. It can be anything. I know Derek is partial to sweets, though he’ll never admit it. Don’t let his gruff exterior fool you.”

The mother laughed, eased by Scott’s words and sincerity.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said as she took her son’s hand to lead him out of the room. “Thank you again.”

Scott nodded as she left the room. He followed after them and stopped at the front desk where Allison and Derek were waiting for him. Lydia had stayed home today, but she was supposed to be meeting up with them so they could all grab dinner when Scott was done. She should arrive soon.

“Was that my last patient?” asked Scott.

“Yeah,” answered Allison. “No one else came and it’s closing time soon.”

“Ok, great,” said Scott. “Now we just need Lydia to get here and we can get going.”

“I’m already here,” said Lydia as she walked through the entrance to the clinic. “I’m a watcher, remember? I knew exactly when you’d be ready.”

Scott grinned and said, “Yeah, I know. Let me just put my coat up.”

Scott darted off to his office where he quickly tossed his lab coat on a hanger and pulled on a dark green plaid shirt that buttoned up. He figured Lydia would kill him if he tried to go out in just his tank top. Now properly dressed, Scott rejoined his friends and they made their way out of the clinic.

Scott and Derek had already left the clinic. Allison was about to walk out the door as well when Lydia suddenly grabbed her wrist, stopping her. Allison turned to look at Lydia and saw that her face was stiff and it looked like she was looking at something Allison couldn’t see. Allison recognized this. She was having a vision. After a few seconds, Lydia breathed deeply and her eyes came back into focus as her face relaxed.

“Lydia, what did you see?” asked Allison.

“They’re coming,” said Lydia. “They’re coming for Scott.”

“Who?”

“The Division. They’ve found Scott. They’re sending a sniffer after him.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow. He’ll be here tomorrow.”

Allison nodded and said, “Then we’ll be ready. But let’s not tell Scott for now. I don’t want him to be worried. He has enough on his plate taking care of all these people. Using his powers like this takes a toll on him.”

“I know,” said Lydia. “I didn’t see the outcome though. Just that he’s coming.”

“It’s fine, Lydia,” comforted Allison. “We’ll protect him like we always have.”

Lydia nodded as Scott shouted after them, asking what was taking so long. Allison and Lydia hurried out of the clinic, locking the door behind them.

* * *

Stiles stood outside the airport, leaning against the wall with his freshly retrieved luggage piled beside him, waiting for his rental car to arrive. It was late morning and beautiful sunny day. Stiles missed this kind of weather. It reminded him of when he used to call California home. Now his job took him all over the world and to many places where he’d barely see the sun if at all.

A light blue Jeep pulled up in front of him, snapping Stiles out of his nostalgia. The driver got out of the Jeep and handed Stiles the keys. After loading Stiles’ luggage, the man departed. Stiles smiled. Jeeps weren’t exactly inconspicuous nor were they particularly luxurious, but Stiles still liked them. They were fast, very durable, and could handle any terrain. They also had a surprising amount of storage space and hiding spots. It was perfect for all of Stiles’ needs.

Stiles figured he’d set up base in his hotel room and monitor Scott for a while with his ability. Attacking this early in the day would be a bad move. It would probably be best to wait until later in the evening. He departed for the hotel.

Once he arrived and checked in, Stiles rearranged things in his Jeep, carefully stowing away various guns and melee weapons in strategic points. He holstered twin pistols on each of his hips. He was on the job now, so he should assume he was always under threat. It’d kept him alive so far. Satisfied, he took a few things with him to the hotel room.

After he swiped into his room, Stiles placed the few things he brought on the desk and then flopped on the bed. It was one of the more comfortable ones he’d had on his travels. Stiles wanted to relax, but he knew he had work to do. Begrudgingly, he pulled out the file, closed his eyes, and touched Scott’s picture.

Stiles found Scott instantly. He was already hard at work in his clinic. He scouted around the area. There were a few other people there, people he didn’t know. It made sense for Scott to have other staff, but he didn’t know if they were psychics or not. Or if they were armed. Stiles decided he would have to be careful if he went after Scott with them around. Better safe than sorry.

Stiles spent the rest of the day checking in and out on Scott and his surroundings. He constructed and discarded endless plans and scenarios in his head. In the end, he decided it’d be best to just walk in like a patient. It’d be the easiest way to get Scott alone. Night had fallen, so it was time to move.

* * *

They had been busier earlier in the day, so Allison was grateful for the extra help from having Lydia there even though she knew the real reason Lydia was there today. The Division was coming and Lydia was the only one who would know who they had sent.

Fortunately, they had started to slow down as the evening came. Allison was relieved because she was sure Scott was pushing himself hard with the number of patients he saw today. She glanced over at Derek and could tell he shared her concern for Scott. Scott had a tendency to keep going without regard for his own health and safety. It was just who he was. But that’s why he had Allison, Derek, and Lydia. They looked out for him.

Allison and Derek were both movers. Allison could turn anything into a projectile or make her own out of thin air. Derek, in spite of his tough appearance, wasn’t the best at moving offensively. He was, however, amazing at generating shield and barriers and using them to boost his physical strength. Both of them had been injured in a fight they got dragged into. It was a stupid fight between two gangs. Derek and Allison had gotten caught in the middle. Scott had found them and healed them. He took them in and made sure they were okay. That was where he explained his plans for the clinic and Allison and Derek knew they wanted to help him. Lydia, Allison’s best friend, joined as well after finding out how Scott saved Allison’s life. She highly respected Scott just like they did.

While Allison was thinking, the last patient walked out, their treatment finished. Allison thought they were going to finish early, but just as she started to put things away, someone else entered the clinic. She sighed. They weren’t closed, so she couldn’t turn them away. Besides, Scott would be mad if she did. Just as she was about to greet the young man, Lydia grabbed Allison’s arm with a stiff look on her face.

“It’s him,” she said simply.

Allison nodded and turned to address the man.

“I’m sorry, but we’re closed for today,” said Allison. “I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“But I just got here,” protested Stiles. “And I heard the doctor here will help anyone.”

“I’m afraid we’ll have to insist,” said Derek with a threatening tone as he stood up.

“Aww, come on. I can’t see him? I mean, I really need his help,” continued Stiles.

“Then what’s wrong with you?” asked Allison. “You look fine.”

“I’ve been having bad stomach pains,” Stiles explained quickly. “They come and go, but they’ve been really bothering me. Keeping me from work, y’know?”

“What kind of pain?” pressed Allison. “Where specifically? How bad? Stabbing or dull? Constant? Radiating?”

Allison was hoping to knock Stiles off balance by asking him so many questions at once, but he seemed to keep his composure, though he raised his hand to stop her.

“Hey, hey. That’s a lot at once,” said Stiles. “I said it’s been coming and going. The pain’s stabbing when it does happen and it feels like a knife’s being stabbed through my stomach. It doesn’t really radiate or anything. As for how bad, well, like I said, it’s been interfering with my job. I had to call in sick a few times now.”

Allison was impressed. She could tell Derek and Lydia were too by their quick and subtle glances to her. There was no doubt about it. Stiles was good. She probably wouldn’t be able to shake him. She let out a sigh.

“Enough of this,” said Allison.

“Enough of what?” asked Stiles. “Satisfied? Will you let me see him now?”

Allison shot Stiles an icy glare that could have killed and said, “We know who you are and why you’re here.”

Stiles’ smile vanished. He wasn’t sure how they found out, but that didn’t matter. He saw Allison and Derek sliding their hands under the deask. They were probably reaching for guns. Stiles knew he has no other choice but to fight them now. Ah well. He had come prepared for such a situation.

“Alright,” smirked Stiles. “Then let’s drop the charade and get down to business!”

Stiles dropped the oversized jacket he had been wearing, revealing the guns and knife he had strapped to himself. In one fluid motion, Stiles drew both guns and started firing. Lydia dove under the desk. In combat, her powers were useless. This was up to Derek and Allison.

Derek had already started forging a barrier in front of Allison and himself. A small transparent wall appeared in front of each of them as Derek condensed the molecules in the atmosphere into a shield. Stiles’ bullet hit the shields and fell harmlessly to the ground.

Allison pulled out the handgun she kept under the desk and opened fire on Stiles with her right hand. With her left hand, she began to form bullets by condensing the molecules in the air. They were her specialty and they were deadly.

Stiles ducked and rolled, taking cover behind a nearby table that he flipped over onto its side. Taking on two at once was never fun and he knew he’d have to be careful, especially since they both seemed to be movers. Damn. He was in a tight spot now. Stiles fired off more rounds.

Scott heard the commotion followed by the unmistakable sound of gunfire. And not just one gun, but multiple guns. That meant more than just Allison’s handgun were being used. Scott rushed out of his office where he had been to see what was going on.

Stiles had stood up to take more offensive shots as Scott turned the corner. Scott saw Stiles, but Stiles didn’t see Scott. Scott recognized Stiles immediately. He’d never forget Stiles even if it had been forever since he’d last seen him. Allison’s bullets were ready and she launched them at Stiles at high speed. Scott saw what she was doing and called out to her.

“Allison, no! Stop!” shouted Scott, too late.

The bullets were already in motion. Scott watched helplessly as they ripped through Stiles’ chest and abdomen. Scott’s words were the last thing Stiles heard before everything went cold and darkness took him. Stiles was dead before he ever hit the ground.

A strong warmth penetrated the cold darkness. Stiles was confused. He was sure he was dead, but maybe this was the whole going into the light thing people had talked about. He quickly realized that wasn’t it. After a few moments, Stiles started to recognize the feeling. It was love. Well, more than just love. There was genuine concern and care, much like if something had happened to someone you were very close to and cared about deeply. It felt nice, like a warm fuzzy blanket being wrapped around Stiles. That feeling began to grow stronger and stronger. As it did, Stiles finally connected the dots. It was Scott. He was feeling Scott’s feelings and emotions.

As soon as he realized this, pain ripped through Stiles’ body. He could still feel the warm feelings, but the physical pain took hold. Stiles’ eyes snapped open, darting back and forth like a madman. His vision was blurry and he couldn’t focus on anything.

Stiles began to realize what this felt like. It felt like when a stitch had healed him because he’d gotten beat up pretty badly during a mission. So that’s what was happening. Scott was healing him. That confused Stiles for multiple reasons. Why would he save someone who was sent to hunt him down and how could he be healing Stiles? Stiles had died, right?

Slowly, Stiles vision began to clear up, but he still couldn’t focus on anything. The pain began to subside as well. It became easier to just feel Scott’s emotions as the physical pain lessened. Stiles couldn’t believe it. After all this time, Scott still felt so strongly about him. After another few moments, the pain stopped. Scott had finished healing him.

Stiles’ vision finally came back into focus. He looked up straight into Scott beautiful smiling face. Stiles thought it was like looking into the sun almost. That hadn’t changed at all. Scott had always had a smile like that.

Then Stiles realized that Scott was cradling him in his lap on the ground. Stiles couldn’t help but blush. This was awkward. Scott moved and helped him to his feet. Stiles was surprisingly steady considering what he’d just been through.

Stiles turned to look at Scott now that they were standing and he was amazed by what he saw. Scott in just his jeans, tank top, and lab coat that was now halfway hanging off his shoulders. A thin layer of sweat glistened on Scott's bronzed skin. The black tank top fit tightly to his torso, outlining his incredible physique while freely showing off his strong arms. And there was just something about that lab coat…

Holy shit, his childhood best friend had really grown up. And he was hot. Stiles had not expected this. He had no plan for this.

Stiles must have been making a face because Scott started to blush slightly as he bashfully rubbed the back of his head. Well, Stiles had never been known for his subtlety to begin with and with a surprise like that…

“It’s been a while, Stiles,” said Scott finally. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I… Uh...Umm…,” said Stiles, scrambling to find words.

“Scott says you were best friends once,” interjected Allison, her tone icy. “So why did you attack Scott? Why are you after him?”

Allison’s tone and bluntness snapped Stiles back to reality. Stiles sighed.

“The Division sent me,” replied Stiles.

It physically pained Stiles to see Scott’s face drop at his words. Scott had believed in him in spite of all this time and everything he’d done. That was just like him. Scott always looked for the best in people. That’s what Stiles had always loved about Scott. Well, one of the things.

“Why?” asked Scott sadly. “Why do they want me?”

“They didn’t tell me,” answered Stiles honestly. “They just said your powers were abnormal and they wanted to study them.”

“You do realize what the Division does, right?” asked Lydia testily. “How could you?”

“I just ignored it. I’m not saying it was right, but it protected me and paid the bills, y’know?” said Stiles sheepishly. “Besides, it doesn’t look like Scott’s powers are abnormal. Sure, he healed gunshot wounds, but any talented stitch can do that.”

Scott, Allison, Lydia, and Derek all exchanged a knowing look. Stiles was confused. Something that was happening far too often for him.

“What?” asked Stiles.

“I didn’t j-” started Scott, his voice wavering as his eyes fluttered.

“Scott?” asked Stiles in concern, stepping towards him.

Scott suddenly collapsed, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Stiles caught Scott just before he hit the ground.

“Scott? Hey, Scott!” shouted Stiles.

“He overdid it,” sighed Allison. “And all to save your sorry ass.”

“Is he going to be okay?” asked Stiles.

“He’ll be fine,” answered Derek. “He’s just exhausted. Bringing someone back from the dead uses a lot of his strength and he had already used his powers a lot today on other patients.”

“Let’s take him back to the house,” proposed Lydia. “We can worry about the rest later.”

“What about him?” asked Allison, gesturing towards Stiles.

There was a knowing glint in Lydia’s eye when she answered.

“I don’t think we have to worry about him,” said Lydia. “It’s not a vision, but a feeling.”

Derek noticed Allison didn’t like this answer, so he spoke up.

“Allison, you know that Lydia’s never wrong,” said Derek. “If she says we don’t have to worry about him, then we don’t. And Scott trusts him. That’s enough for me.”

“Scott trusts everyone,” retorted Allison. “That’s what got us here.”

“Not everyone,” corrected Derek. “He wouldn’t bring just anyone back from the dead.”

Allison sighed in defeat and said, “Alright. Let’s take them to Scott’s place. But I still don’t trust him.”

Derek shrugged and helped Stiles get Scott onto his back and Stiles carried him to the car. Once Scott was securely loaded, they left for his house.

* * *

Once they arrived at Scott’s house, a surprisingly sizeable place, Stiles once again carried Scott on his back. He followed Lydia’s direction to Scott’s room and gently lowered him onto the queen size bed. The others left the two of them alone in Scott’s room.

Stiles couldn’t help but feel guilty. He shouldn’t have come after Scott. He should have declined the job. He should never have put Scott in that situation.

As those thoughts raged through his mind, tiredness set in. He’d been through a lot considering he literally died once today. He looked down at Scott who was sleeping peacefully. Stiles climbed into the bed next to Scott and was asleep in seconds.

Scott and Stiles woke up at the same time. Scott rolled over, blinking as he tried to process who was laying next to him in his bed. He smiled when he realized it was Stiles.

“Just like when we were kids, huh?” said Scott as his trademark smile appeared on his face again.

Scott’s smile and overall positive reaction to seeing Stiles made Stiles relax. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Yeah,” agreed Stiles. “We used to share beds all the time as kids.”

“I’ve missed you, Stiles. Ever since-”

“I know. And you know why I had to go. Why my dad had to go.”

“Yeah. I do. You both needed to get away.”

Stiles sighed and said, “Yeah. But I missed you, too.”

Scott smiled at that. Stiles remembered that Scott had been trying to say something to him before he passed out.

“Hey, Scott, you were trying to tell me something before you passed out,” said Stiles. “What was it?”

Scott looked confused for a minute, as if he didn’t remember what Stiles was talking about. Then the lightbulb clicked on in his head.

“Oh! Right!” said Scott. “I was trying to explain that I didn’t just heal you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Stiles, you weren’t just badly wounded. You were dead. I brought you back and then healed your wounds.”

Stiles was taken aback. He had thought he’d died, but assumed he didn’t since Scott healed him.

“How is that even possible?” asked Stiles.

Scott shrugged and said, “I don’t know. It’s just something I can do. It takes a lot of my energy and focus, but I can revive people who’ve recently died. Lydia’s theory is that I jump start the cells of the body, making them work again, and then causes the cells to heal once the person is alive again.”

“Wow,” said Stiles, slightly stunned at the revelation.

I can also remove cancer and various diseases,” explained Scott. “We think it works in a similar way. Basically, I revert the corrupted cells back to normal.”

“That’s so awesome!” said Stiles. “But now I see why they wanted you.”

“I think there’s more to it than that,” said Scott, furrowing his brow. “They found out about the underground clinic. I bet they didn’t like the fact that I was healing people for free. The Division doesn’t like what it can’t control and what it doesn’t understand.”

Stiles nodded and said, “Yeah, I think you’re right. I kind of got that feel from them when they were giving me the assignment.”

Scott’s face dropped, a sad expression covering it.

“So, Stiles,” started Scott hesitantly. “What’re you going to do?”

“Huh? About what?” asked Stiles.

“About me and The Division. Are you still going to take me in?” asked Scott sadly.

Stiles cast his eyes at the floor. He didn’t want Scott to be sad. He wouldn’t abandon him. Not again.

“I choose you,” answered Stiles, looking back at Scott. “Every time, I’ll choose you.”

Scott looked up at Stiles in surprise.

“Huh? Really?” asked Scott.

“Yes, really! Why wouldn’t I?” said Stiles

“Well, they probably won’t like that. And you came after me originally, so…”

“Yeah, well, I decided I’m not taking you in. The Division can suck it.”

Scott laughed and smiled again. It made Stiles happy to see that. It was impossible not to feel happy after seeing one of Scott’s smiles.

Still, something tugged at the back of Stiles’ mind, bothering him. It was about what he felt when Scott revived him. Well, it was now or never.

“Scott,” started Stiles. “When you were healing me, reviving me, or whatever that was, something happened.”

“What was it?” asked Scott.

“I’m not sure. It was like I could feel your emotions and feelings. I couldn’t make out any thoughts or anything, but it was still powerful. It felt warm and strong. If I had to describe it, I’d say it felt like love,” continued Stiles.

Scott blushed when Stiles said that. He hadn’t thought about that happening when he rushed to save Stiles. He should have known it would though. His powers were psychic by nature and reviving the dead pushed them to such an extreme, it really was no surprise that happened.

“Uh, well, I mean you were- are- my best friend from childhood,” stammered Scott quickly. “Of course I love and care about you.”

“Even after all this time?” asked Stiles. “Even after what I did?”

Scott nodded and replied, “Yeah. Even now.”

“You sure it’s not more than that?” pressed Stiles.

“Huh?! Uh... What do you mean?” asked Scott nervously, his face blushing anew.

Stiles laughed slightly at Scott’s reaction.

“Y’know, you’re cute when you’re flustered,” observed Stiles. “Not that you’re not cute the rest of the time, but… Wait.. Uh… Fuck.”

Scott’s face showed surprise at first, but it only lasted a moment before he started smiling like an excited puppy.

“You think I’m cute?” asked Scott.

Stiles looked away as his entire face turned red. He silently cursed his extraordinarily pale skin.

“Um… Yeah. I guess,” admitted Stiles.

There was no going back. He’d already let it slip. Stiles felt Scott moving closer to him on the bed.

“So, you like me then?” asked Scott.

Stiles turned back to face Scott. He seemed serious and genuine.

“Yeah. I do. But I-” started Stiles.

“You’re cute when you’re flustered, too,” laughed Scott. “And when you’re embarrassed.”

“Wait, so you?”

“Yeah, I like you, too, Stiles. But I didn’t know if you were interested in me like that.”

“How long?”

“I dunno. Since we were kids I think. But then you left…”

Scott trailed off and looked sad for a moment. Stiles felt bad. He hadn’t wanted to leave Scott, but he didn’t have much of a choice.

“Hey, I’m sure you were fine without me,” said Stiles. “Look at who you’ve become. You’re amazing.”

“It was still hard though,” responded Scott. “Not having your best friend there. The one you loved. But, yeah, I did well. I had some help from some good people.”

“See? I knew you wouldn’t be alone. It’s not who you are. You were always the people person. Me? Not so much.”

“Were you alone, Stiles?” asked Scott, concern suddenly drifting into his voice.

“Dad did his best,” sighed Stiles. “He tried to be there for me as much as he could, but he had to work all the time to support us and depression took a toll on him, too. It wasn’t his fault. And I was never good at making friends. Once I discovered my powers, the Division found me. Offered me a job. A way to help me and my dad. But, in the end, it made me even more alone. You can’t really be with people when your job is to hunt them down.”

“Stiles…”

“Nah, it’s okay, Scott. I’ve always been fine on my own.”

Scott suddenly pulled Stiles into a hug, although it ended being closer to an awkwardly positioned cuddle since they were both still laying on the bed. Stiles tensed up at first. It had been a very long time since he’d had any form of intimate human contact like this, but he quickly relaxed into it. Scott was strong and warm and he smelled nice even though he’d been working in the clinic earlier.

“You don’t have to be alone, Stiles,” said Scott. “Not anymore.”

“Thanks, Scott,” said Stiles, trying not to cry as he pulled Scott a little closer. “Hey, I’m still a little tired. Do you mind if we sleep just a little longer together?”

“Not at all,” replied Scott. “I’m still drained myself.”

“Good,” said Stiles as he turned over to face his back towards Scott.

Scott let Stiles rotate freely. Once Stiles was settled, Scott carefully wrapped his arms around Stiles and pulled him close, nuzzling Stiles’ neck for a moment as he did. Scott pulled the covers over them once they were both settled.

Stiles felt at home in Scott’s arms. It was almost like curling up next to a warm fire. For the first time in a long time, he felt safe. Stiles had truly missed Scott. He pressed himself gently back into Scott, smiling at the nuzzling and enjoying the feel of Scott's muscles against his back. Before long, they were both asleep again.

* * *

Allison, Derek, and Lydia sat in the living room watching TV. Allison had more or less calmed down about Stiles, but only because she trusted Lydia so much. After all, Lydia had never been wrong before and she was her best friend. She just hoped Scott was okay.

“Ah, finally,” said Lydia suddenly.

Allison and Derek both gave Lydia a confused look.

“Finally what?” asked Allison.

“Oh, nothing,” replied Lydia with a knowing look on her face.

Allison recognized that gleam in her eye. Lydia saw something. But she didn’t feel like sharing and Allison was too tired to press her, so she turned back to watching TV with Derek.

Lydia smiled and shook her head. Those two had finally gotten together. It sure took them a while, but they were always meant to find each other again. They’d need each other to face what was to come. Although, perhaps the fact that they had gotten together was the reason why what was coming was going to happen. Fate was funny like that.

Lydia mused about such things for only a moment longer. She knew there wouldn’t be time to relax later, so she returned her attention to watching TV with her friends. It well may be the last time they’d have the chance.

* * *

Scott woke before Stiles did. Early morning sunlight drifted in lazily through the blinds of his windows. They must have slept the rest of the night away, but Scott had needed it. He felt fully refreshed compared to early. He’d done his best to hang on, but he’d pushed his powers to the limit, so he should have known it would happen. But it was worth it for Stiles.

Careful not to wake him, Scott hugged Stiles a little tighter to his chest, enjoying the warmth of Stiles back and the simple pleasure of holding Stiles. It had been at least fourteen years since he’d last seen Stiles, since they’d last shared a bed together like this. Maybe Scott hadn’t realized it back then because they were just little kids, but he liked Stiles as more than just a friend. It just sort of happened somewhere along the way. Having him back in his life now was a dream come true. He knew it had been a long time since Stiles had had this kind of intimacy, but the same was true for Scott.

Scott felt Stiles begin to stir in his arms, stretching while still more or less asleep. Scott felt Stiles’ muscles tense as they stretched and contracted under his own arms and torso. Stiles had definitely gotten a lot more muscular than Scott remembered him, though Scott wasn’t complaining. Scott nuzzled Stiles’ neck again and whispered into Stiles’ ear.

“Morning, sleepyhead.”

Scott was greeted with a snort followed by a short, “G’morn’n.” that was barely audible.

Scott grinned. Stiles still wasn’t a morning person it seemed. His job probably rarely demanded that he be. Perfect for him. Scott gently nudged Stiles again with his head.

“Come on, wake up,” persuaded Scott.

This time Scott was met with something between a groan and a whine as Stiles snuggled back against Scott. He seemed intent on not moving, enjoying his spot in Scott’s arms. Scott sighed. He knew Stiles wouldn’t be that easy. It looked like he’d have to resort to something else. Scott smiled mischieviously at the thought, something rare for him.

Scott gently snaked his hands under the hem of Stiles’ shirt, his fingers lightly dragging over Stiles’ happy trail and the muscles of his abdomen. Stiles either didn’t notice what Scott was doing or didn’t care. Maybe it was a bit of both. Scott positioned his hands on Stiles’ ribs and began to wiggle his fingers, tickling Stiles mercilessly.

The response was immediate. Stiles’ eyes snapped wide open and he sat up quickly, shouts of protest falling from his mouth. Scott just laughed and used one arm to pull Stiles in and the other to keep tickling him as Stiles squirmed to get away. Stiles raised his arms and sucked in a little bit as he slid down the bed, leaving Scott holding just his shirt as he escaped his grasp.

Scott was surprised by Stiles escape and sudden shirtlessness for a moment. Stiles used that surprise to his advantage and leapt onto Scott, tackling him backwards onto the bed

“That wasn’t nice, Scott!” said Stiles indignantly, breathing heavily with his face still flushed from the tickling.

Scott smiled innocently and said, “You wouldn’t wake up.”

“That’s no excuse!”

“I guess you’ve got me, then.”

“Yeah, I do.”

Stiles started to lean his face closer to Scott’s when Scott suddenly wrapped his legs around Stiles’ waist and bucked his hips, breaking Stiles’ posture. Stiles fell into Scott, his bare chest pressing against Scott’s. Scott wasted no time and rolled to the side, taking Stiles with him as they swapped positions. Now Scott was on top of Stiles, his hands resting next to Stiles’ shoulders. Scott had to admit his liked the way Stiles’ muscles rippled as he struggled against him.

“Hey! That wasn’t fair!” protested Stiles.

“Yeah it was,” countered Scott. “I learned some basic defense, Stiles. Kind of had to.”

“Well, two can play at that game.”

Before Scott could react, Stiles yanked Scott’s tank top up with one hand and used his other to start tickling Scott back. If Scott got to see him shirtless, it was only fair that he got to see him shirtless, too. Scott’s bare six pack did not disappoint either, especially as it tightened in reaction to Stiles’ tickling.

In spite of Scott’s best efforts to resist, his arms buckled and he soon found himself pressed against Stiles, tank top half off. Scott saw Stiles smirking just before he tumbled with Scott so that he was on top again. Stiles straddled him with his knees on either side of Scott as he beamed victoriously.

Scott didn’t necessarily mind the position he found himself in, beneath Stiles, but he couldn’t just let Stiles beat him like that. He’d never live it down. He was sure that hadn’t changed since they were kids at least. Fortunately for Scott, Stiles had let his little victory go to his head and had left himself in pretty off balanced position. Scott grabbed Stiles’ inner thighs, just above his knees, and yanked them forward.

Stiles’ eyes grew wide as he started to fall backwards, shouting as he went. Scott shot himself forward, between Stiles’ legs and positioned himself over Stiles. Scott quickly pinned Stiles’ hands to the bed so he couldn’t do anything this time. It was bad enough that his tank top was hanging half off him over one of his shoulders.

“Looks like I win,” said Scott with a victorious smile.

“Oh really?” asked Stiles, a mischievous smirk spreading across his face.

That worried Scott. He knew Stiles was crafty and didn’t always play by the rules, but he was pretty sure he had him.

“I’ve got you pinned, Stiles,” said Scott, still keeping his confidence.

“Maybe, but let’s say you didn’t,” replied Stiles. “Let’s say I was free somehow. You wouldn’t be upset if I grabbed your junk, huh?”

Scott blushed at Stiles’ proposal. So far, things had been pretty light-hearted. Sure, some feeling up and shirtlessness, but nothing heavy. But Scott wasn’t going to back down.

“No, I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” answered Scott. “Too bad you’re not free. Like I said, I win.”

“Don’t be so sure,” said Stiles.

Stiles suddenly jerked his right arm, breaking Scott’s grip. Not missing a beat, Stiles took his newly freed arm and shoved it down the front of Scott’s pants. Scott’s eyes widened as Stiles’ hand squirmed down his pants, fighting past his boxers until it finally found its target. Stiles had always imagined Scott was big and, well, Scott did not disappoint.

Scott let out a small gasp of surprise and pleasure as Stiles grasped his cock, rubbing his hand up and down the shaft. Stiles was pleased with himself as he felt Scott start to harden with so little effort on his part. Scott’s blushing face wasn’t a bad look either. However, Stiles couldn’t let himself get too distracted by what was going on down there. After all, this was ultimately a distraction and Scott was definitely not prepared anymore.

Without any real effort, Stiles pulled his left hand free of Scott’s grasp. The sudden movement and Scott’s preoccupation with Stiles’ other hand caused him to slip, halfway falling onto Stiles. Stiles used his left hand to wrap around Scott’s waist and pull Scott into him, his right hand still having its way with Scott.

With Scott on top of him, Stiles rolled, causing them to switch positions one more time. Stiles didn’t push away from Scott this time. He let his body press against Scott, a satisfied grin on his face when he saw Scott’s blushing and flushed face.

“Looks like I win, eh, Scott?” said Stiles.

Scott nodded and said, “Y-yeah. Guess so.”

“Don’t worry,” said Stiles, his face softening some. “You still get a pretty good consolation prize.”

Scott was about to ask him what he meant, but Stiles’ lips interrupted him. Scott’s surprise only lasted a moment before he relaxed into the kiss, letting Stiles’ energetic and playful tongue find its way into his mouth. Scott eagerly returned the kiss, tongue and all.

They hadn’t been kissing for more than a few seconds when they heard a noise outside of Scott’s door. It sounded like Allison, Lydia, and Derek. They seemed to be arguing about something.

“Allison, just let them be,” came Derek’s voice. “I’m sure they’re fine and just resting.”

“They’ve been in there for a long time!,” protested Allison’s voice. “I just want to check up on them.”

“Allison, I really don’t think-” started Lydia’s voice, but it never finished the sentence.

Suddenly, the door to Scott’s room burst open and Allison barged in followed closely by Lydia and Derek. Scott and Stiles stopped kissing and looked up. They were still on top of each other. Scott with his tank top nearly off at this point and Stiles with his shirt off and hand still down the front of Scott’s pants. It took less than a second for the embarassment to set in and they both turned a bright shade of red.

“Geez, haven’t you guys heard of knocking?” asked Stiles, quickly pulling his hand out of Scott’s pants and trying to pull the sheets over them as best he could.

“Guys, you know this is my room, right?” said Scott sheepishly, trying not to look directly at them.

Allison and Derek both had blank expressions on their faces as if unsure how to react to what they saw. Lydia just sighed, rolling her eyes.

“I told you not go in there, Allison,” said Lydia. “You’d think by now you’d know to listen to me.”

“I-I… Uhh... Didn’t expect this,” Allison finally managed to spit out.

“Maybe we should, uh,” started Derek.

“Get out?” finished Stiles. “You think?”

There was a hint of venom in that last sentence, but they had rudely barged in on them, so Stiles didn’t care.

“Yeah. Let’s go,” said Derek, grabbing Allison’s arm to pull her out of the room.

Allison went without much resistance. Only Lydia seemed unphased, but she’d probably seen this coming, so that was no surprise. Allison and Derek still seemed a bit stunned. Neither Scott nor Stiles cared though.

Once the door closed behind them, Stiles rolled off Scott.

“Some great friends you’ve got there,” said Stiles sarcastically.

“They mean well,” said Scott fondly. “They’ve looked out for me for years. You can’t blame them for being a little overprotective.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

The two of them sat up and leaned against the headboard of Scott’s bed.

“You might have gone a bit overboard though, don’t you think?” said Scott.

Stiles smirked and replied, “You know you enjoyed it, Scotty.”

Scott blushed again and said, “I didn’t say I didn’t.”

Scott paused for a second and then looked at Stiles before continuing.

“Wait. You called me Scotty.”

“Yeah, is there something wrong with that?” asked Stiles.

“No,” answered Scott, smiling like the sun again. “It’s just been so long since anyone’s called me that. You’re the only one who ever did.”

“You missed something little like that? You really are sappy.”

“It’s just nice to hear it again.”

“Well good then.”

Scott edged his hand over to Stiles’ hand and took it, interlacing their fingers. They were both happy to have found each other again and to have found out that the other felt the same way. It was better than they could have hoped. They enjoyed a few moment of silence, just sitting there holding hands. Finally, Stiles spoke up.

“They’re going to come for us, you know,” said Stiles. “Me because I betrayed them and you because they’ve always been after you.”

“I know,” sighed Scott. “They don’t give up. I’d been hoping to never have to deal with them, but I guess they were bound to find me eventually.”

“We should go talk about it with them about it. Figure out what we’re going to do.”

“Yeah.”

Stiles started to move, finding his shirt tangled up in the sheets. He slid it on over his head and went to get out of the bed. Scott appeared next to him.

“Hey, Stiles,” said Scott.

“What’s up, Scotty?” asked Stiles, pausing for a moment to look at Scott who had finally pulled his tank top back on properly.

“About earlier. That was really fun,” said Scott with a smile. “I don’t want it to be just a one time thing.”

Stiles smiled and leaned over to kiss Scott briefly on the lips.

“I enjoyed it, too.” replied Stiles, happy that Scott wanted more than a fling. “I don’t want it to be just a one time thing either, but first we need to figure out how to handle what’s coming.”

Scott nodded. The two of them got up and went to join Allison, Lydia, and Derek.

* * *

Everyone sat in Scott’s living room, waiting to begin the inevitable discussion. The atmosphere felt heavy, as if the air had suddenly compressed itself.

“The Division is going to send someone after me. After Scott,” began Stiles. “It’s not a question of will they, but a question of when.”

“Do you have any ideas about who it might be?” asked Allison.

Stiles thought for a moment before he responded, “It’ll be a clean-up man. Someone powerful who can come in and finish things quickly. And I think I know who it might be.”

“Who?” asked Derek.

“You probably know him,” replied Stiles. “At least distantly.”

Derek’s face turned to one of almost fear. He knew exactly who Stiles meant.

“No,” said Derek in dismay. “Anyone but him. Anyone but that psychopath.”

Stiles frowned and said, “Yeah, you know who it is then. It’s almost certainly going to be Peter. Peter Hale.”

Everyone turned to look at Derek, all with surprised looks on their faces.

“You have a brother?” asked Scott.

“He’s not my brother,” responded Derek. “He’s my uncle and he’s probably the biggest psychopath I’ve ever had the displeasure of knowing.”

“Why’s he so bad?” asked Scott. “I mean, he’s family.”

“He’s a pusher. A very powerful and skilled one,” answered Derek. “He enjoys manipulating and controlling people. He views everyone as a puppet for him to play with. He has no regard for others.”

“That’s why the Division likes him,” added Stiles. “He’s the perfect clean-up man. Powerful and effective. They basically tell him what needs to be done and give him carte blanche to do what he pleases.”

“So basically we have the world’s strongest and craziest pusher coming for us, right?” asked Allison.

“Pretty much,” nodded Stiles.

“Great. Just great,” sighed Allison.

“We’re not completely defenseless,” said Scott. “You and Derek are both skilled movers. Stiles is trained in some weapons. I know how to fight, too.”

“Yeah, but none of that’s useful against a Pusher really,” said Stiles. “If anything, it might actually hurt us.”

“Stiles is right,” agreed Derek. “Peter won’t hesitate to turn us on each other. He doesn’t mind fighting and killing people on his own, but if he can manipulate someone to do it for him, he will. He’ll use our strength to his advantage.”

Scott’s face fell and it broke Stiles’ heart to see him like that, but they had to be honest with him. That didn’t mean he could try and give him hope though.

“Hey, we’ll find a way, Scott,” reassured Stiles. “Both of us always have, right?”

Scott looked up at Stiles and smiled faintly.

“Yeah. Thanks, Stiles,” said Scott. “I’m sure we’ll think of something.”

“What do you see Lydia?” asked Allison.

Lydia closed her eyes for a moment before snapping them open again. When she did, her pupils were dilated and her eyes focusing on something that no one else could see.

“I see a man. Peter,” said Lydia, her voice distant as if speaking from a dream state. “He’ll come alone, but he won’t be alone for long. He’ll raise his own army of innocents to do his bidding. He’ll toy with us, coming at us in indirect ways. Ways that put us in danger, but that we can probably survive.”

Lydia suddenly began speaking urgently, as if she was running out of time.

“A final confrontation will occur,” said Lydia, her voice still distant, but rising. “He will turn the one closest to Scott against him. This will lead to a struggle between Scott and Peter where-”

Lydia gasped and lurched forward slightly, her pupils returning to normal and her eyes focusing on those in the room once more. Her body tensed. After a moment, she relaxed, dropping her head.

“I’m sorry,” apologized Lydia. “I couldn’t see the final outcome.”

“Hey, that’s okay, Lydia,” said Scott warmly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “That’s more than enough.”

“No it’s not,” said Lydia, frustration in her voice. “This always happens. I can never see the final outcome. I always stop short. What good is my power if I can’t see what’s going to happen at the end? I’m useless.”

“No, you’re not Lydia,” said Scott. “We’d never have survived without you.”

“Scott’s right, Lydia,” agreed Allison. “Just yesterday you warned us about Stiles coming and that let us be ready for him.”

“Not to mention all the other times your premonitions have saved our hides,” added Derek. “You’re important, Lydia, and you’re good enough.”

Lydia lifted her head to look at her friends and she smiled.

“Yeah, you’re right,” said Lydia, regaining her typical air of confidence. “It’s just a bit frustrating sometimes.”

“We know enough to start preparing at least,” said Stiles. “But I am worried about the last thing you said.”

Stiles’ words darkened the mood of room. They all knew he was right. They weren’t sure why they were so stunned by what Lydia has said. It was exactly what they had expected. Peter would use his pusher powers to turn them against Scott. It was unthinkable to them, but with Peter’s level of power and skill, it could happen.

“So we were right,” said Scott. “He’s going to turn all of you against me.”

“No, that’s not what she said,” said Stiles. “She said, ‘the one closest to Scott’. That implies one of us.”

“But why would he just do one of us?” asked Allison. “It would make more sense to use all of us and if he’s as strong as you say, he should have no problem doing it.”

Stiles thought for a moment. Allison raised a very good point. Why would it be just one of them?

“A pusher implants ideas and stuff in a person’s mind,” began Stiles. “Doesn’t it stand to reason that the more those ideas go against what that person would do, the harder it would be to push the ideas? If that’s so, then maybe because none of us could ever imagine wanting to hurt Scott, he can only control one of us.”

“That could make sense,” agreed Allison, nodding.

“What if I somehow end up with just one of you with me when I face Peter?” proposed Scott.

“That could explain it, too,” acknowledged Stiles.

“I think Stiles is on to something with his idea about pushers,” said Lydia. “But I think it might be that Scott ends up with just one of us to face Peter. My vision got hazy there, so I can’t say for sure, but that feels right.”

“Talking about what that meant isn’t going to help us,” said Derek. “We need to make a plan and get ready.”

“Derek’s right,” said Scott. “So let’s see what we’ve got.”

Allison explained that they had a number of weapons stockpiled. She always kept some on hand in case anything happened. So far, that’d been enough, but they’d never had to face the Division or such a powerful pusher. Stiles still had his supplies that he left at the hotel, including computers with access to the Division’s network. Using his own powers, Stiles found out that the Division hadn’t removed his stuff yet.

“What about Peter?” asked Scott. “We need to know how close he is to us. Could you try and track him, Stiles?”

Stiles nodded and focused. He’d only ever met Peter once and that was enough to scar him for life. Such a strong memory made it easier to find Peter without having a physical object to touch. He knew exactly where Peter was.

“He’s boarding an airplane,” said Stiles. “Heading straight here. We don’t have that much time.”

“Alright. Lydia and I will go get the weapons from our stockpile. Stiles, you go get everything out of your hotel room, but be careful. The Division is probably watching or on their way there,” said Allison.

“Yeah. They will be, but I’ll be fine,” replied Stiles.

Allison nodded and continued, “Derek, you’ll stay here to protect Scott if anything happens. You’re better at creating shields than I am, so if anything happens, you’d be most able to defend him.”

“I’ll protect him with my life,” said Derek confidently. “Don’t worry.”

“Good. You and Scott can arm yourselves with the weapons we keep here,” said Allison. “Let’s move.”

* * *

Stiles pulled out his cell phone as he drove down the road in his Jeep. It was time to call in a favor from an old friend.

“Hey, Kira! It’s been a while!” said Stiles.

“Stiles? Is that you?” asked Kira.

“Yep! How’ve you been?”

“Drop the act, Stiles. I know you’d only call me if you desperately needed something.”

“You wound me, Kira!” said Stiles, pretending to be hurt by Kira’s words. “Can’t someone just call up an old friend for old times sake?”

“They can when that friend doesn’t track down psychics for the Division,” retorted Kira. “So, am I wrong.”

“You’re no fun,” sighed Stiles in defeat. “Yeah, yeah. You’re right. I need you to disguise me.”

“Disguise YOU? Do you realize how hard it is to shift a person?”

“You’re the most talented shifter I know! You can do it!”

“Fine. Come see me and I’ll try. Do you have a reference photo?”

“Yeah, I have someone in mind.”

“Good. I trust you can find me on your own, sniffer.”

“Cute. Real cute.”

Kira hung up before Stiles could say anything further. Stiles laughed. He really couldn’t blame her. After all, he was being kind of an asshole, calling her up out of the blue just to ask her for a favor. Ah well. She’d be alright. She was one of the few people he’d actually gotten to know after he and his dad moved. Besides, she owed him one from helping her track down and take down Nogi, a pusher who’d been causing her family a lot of grief. Actually, she probably owed him quite a few for that one. He nearly died. Either way, having her help would make sneaking in and out of the hotel room a lot easier.

Stiles found her easily. She was at her house. She was already waiting outside for him.

“Did you bring the photograph?” asked Kira, jumping straight to the point.

“I know this is a business transaction and all, Kira, but it really has been a while,” said Stiles as he climbed out of his Jeep. “It wouldn’t hurt to be friendly.”

Kira sighed, shaking her head. Stiles knew he’d won. She put up a tough exterior, but she was actually a sweet person. She smiled at him with that sly look of hers.

“It’s good to see you, Stiles,” said Kira. “Really. How’ve you been?”

“Just busy tracking people,” replied Stiles cheerfully. “But now I kind of have the Division after me.”

“How’d you manage that?” asked Kira, cocking an eyebrow at Stiles. “I thought you worked for them.”

“Well, I did. Then they sent me after Scott. Long story short, I can’t betray Scott and we might kind of like each other.”

Stiles shot Kira an indignant look when she laughed at him.

“What?” asked Stiles incredulously.

“I’m just not surprised,” said Kira. “I mean, when you first moved here, you never shut up about Scott. Really you didn’t shut up about him for a long time and even then he’d still come up sometimes in conversation. I know we were kids then, but I’m pretty sure we all knew you had a thing for Scott.”

“Was it that obvious?” asked Stiles sheepishly.

“Yeah. But that’s ancient history. I’m glad you two found each other, but I imagine you’re actually in a hurry if the Division is after you. You of all people know they don’t like to wait.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Here’s the picture.”

Stiles handed Kira the picture he’d been holding onto. Kira’s face seemed to turn to stone when she saw it.

“You can’t be serious,” said Kira. “Peter Hale?”

“He’s the one they’re sending after me,” explained Stiles. “I need to look like him to get back to my hotel room.”

“Oh, Stiles…” said Kira, a twinge of sadness in her voice.

“I know. It doesn’t look good. That’s why I need your help.”

“Alright. I’ll shift you, but you have an hour tops I expect. And if anything hits you, cuts, you, or something like that, it’ll break the illusion, okay?

“Got it. Thanks, Kira.”

Kira nodded and began to focus. There was a flash of light around Stiles. When it cleared, Peter Hale stood before Kira. She’d done it.

“You’re good to go,” said Kira. “Be careful, okay?”

“Yeah, I will be,” said Stiles as he got back into his Jeep.

Without another word, Stiles headed for the hotel.

Stiles arrived at the hotel and made his way to the room. He became acutely aware of the security cameras in the hotel. He knew the Division was using them to watch him. Hopefully, they wouldn’t realize the real Peter Hale hadn’t landed yet.

Stiles swiped into the room and quickly shut the door behind him. He moved swiftly through the room, grabbing the laptop and various weapons that he’d hidden in strategic spots. He didn’t like to be caught off guard, so he’d gotten in the habit of placing weapons throughout the rooms he stayed in. Just as he was stashing the last weapon, Stiles noticed a flicker of light around his arm.

Stiles knew what that meant. The shift was wearing off. But it was too soon. Kira had said he should have longer. He couldn’t argue with the evidence though. He had to hurry. The last thing he needed was for his disguise to break here.

Stiles left the room, trying to look natural since the cameras would still be watching him. He had almost made it to the lobby when the entire shift flickered, the light distorting around Stiles. It didn’t break, but Stiles was sure the cameras caught that. He walked a few more steps, but stopped when he saw Division agents entering the lobby, heading straight for him.

Stiles spun on his heel and took off running down the hall. He needed an exit and a distraction. He saw a fire alarm ahead of him. He pulled it without so much as a second thought. Just as he’d hoped, people started pouring out of their rooms, crowding the hallways and causing pandemonium. A few feet away was an emergency exit. Stiles took it and bolted towards his Jeep.

People were filling the parking lot now, but Stiles knew how to navigate a crowd. He used them to his advantage like always. Halfway through the parking lot, the shift broke, but it didn’t matter anymore. They knew he was there. A moment later, Stiles was in his Jeep and speeding down the highway back to Scott’s house.

* * *

When Stiles arrived at Scott’s house, Allison was just finishing unloading the last of her weapons. She gave Stiles an icy stare as he got out of his Jeep. A flare of distrust still burned in her mind, even with Scott and Lydia vouching for him.

“I see you made it back alive,” said Allison. “I trust no one followed you.”

“No one followed me. Glad you made it back alive, too,” replied Stiles.

Allison just rolled her eyes and shifted the bag of weapons on your shoulder. Stiles sighed.

“Look, I know you don’t trust me, but we have to work together,” said Stiles.

“I’m not sure you have Scott’s best interests at heart,” said Allison. “What if all this is just a ruse? What if you’re just manipulating Scott?”

“And what if I’m not? What if I just want him to be happy? What if I just want him to be safe? What if I actually care about him more than I care about my own damn self?” Stiles fired back, his voice rising with each sentence.

Stiles didn’t realize how worked up he’d gotten. He was pretty sure his voice cracked on that last bit. He felt his face flushing and tears of anger and passion bubbling in his eyes. Allison looked stunned for a moment by Stiles’ words and visceral reaction, but, as usual, she quickly regained her composure.

“Then why did you leave him?” asked Allison.

“I was a kid!” shouted Stiles. “My dad moved and I had to go with him. I didn’t have a choice.”

Allison cast her eyes at the ground and simply said, “I see.”

Stiles tried to regain his composure somewhat before speaking again.

“Why are you so loyal to him?” asked Stiles quietly.

Allison let her hair fall to cover the front of her face then pushed it back behind her ear before responding.

“About a year or so ago, Derek, Lydia, and I were living on the streets,” began Allison. “Lydia’s family disowned her for her powers and Derek’s family is dead except for his estranged sister and, apparently, his psychopathic uncle. And mine, well, let’s just say we don’t see eye to eye. So, we stayed together, just the three of us. Lydia took things hard, so Derek and I tried to make money to keep us afloat, but it was never enough.”

“That sounds rough, but still doesn’t answer my question,” said Stiles.

Allison shot him a glare so intense that Stiles thought it might actually kill him.

“Uh, sorry,” said Stiles quickly.

“Anyway,” continued Allison. “We were broke and needed money. Badly. So Derek and I started running with a gang. They valued our mover powers because they made us great bodyguards. We were making good money protecting their drug runs and their leaders, but it all went to hell one night. The night we almost died.”

“What happened?”

“We were just providing security for the gang. They were having an important meeting about changing up their drug trafficking routes to throw the cops and rival gangs off. Everyone was there, all the leaders and the important people in the gang. Even a bunch of the grunts and newbies were around. Nothing was supposed to happen that night. But a rival gang came and ambushed us. They had movers, bleeders, and tons of ammunition. They slaughtered the entire gang. Derek and I did our best to escape, but they got us right outside the warehouse. Multiple gunshots to our backs. So we laid there, bleeding out and thinking about how Lydia was going to be alone now. Then Scott appeared. He didn’t know us, but the concern on his face was genuine. We could feel it when he healed us, too. He legitimately cared about two people who he’d never met before. When we were able to sit up again, he smiled. It was like looking into the sun.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Scott. He cares about people and, honestly, his smile could light the world.”

“Do you always talk this much?”

“Sorry, it tends to happen sometimes. ADHD and all that.”

“Right. Well, we realized Lydia was standing behind him crying. She’d foreseen our deaths and sought out Scott to save us. She’s heard rumors about him and thought he’d be the only one who could help us. She was probably right. Scott took us to his house and let us stay there. He fed us and gave us a place to shower and a warm bed. The next day, he told us about his plans to open the underground clinic and offered us all jobs protecting and helping him. We couldn’t believe it and when we asked why he’d do all this for some strangers he just smiled and said he had a good feeling about us. We’ve been working for him ever since and we’ve never been happier. He took us, literally, from the bottom of the streets and gave us a purpose. He gave us a home. This is the least we can do.”

“I see. Makes sense I suppose. But, please, you have to believe that I’m loyal to him, too. I’m literally throwing away everything I’ve worked for so that the Division can’t have him. I don’t want that for him.”

Allison was surprised by the sincerity in Stiles’ voice. She’d gotten really good at telling when people were faking sincerity or when they were lying. Everything told her Stiles wasn’t. She sighed. Maybe he really did want what was best for Scott.

“Fine,” conceded Allison. “I’ll believe you. You seem sincere enough and you’re right about how you’re kind of throwing everything away. Plus I value Lydia’s feelings about people.”

“And not Scott’s?” asked Stiles, cocking an eyebrow.

“Scott trusts everyone. He always tries to see the best in them. It’s who he is,” shrugged Allison.

“Okay, yeah. That’s fair,” admitted Stiles.

“But if you ever double-cross us and try to hurt Scott, I won’t hesitate to end you,” said Allison, her icy tone returning.

“Good thing you won’t have to,” said Stiles, trying to dismiss the iciness. “We should get going. We’re running out of time and they’re probably wondering where we are.”

Allison nodded and they made their way back into the house.

* * *

Scott stood up with a smile on his face as Stiles entered the living room.

“You’re back!” exclaimed Scott. “And you’re okay!”

“Of course I’m okay,” replied Stiles. “I’m tough after all. Plus I’ve been doing stuff like this for a while.”

“I hope so. We’re going to need it going up against Peter,” said Allison as she set the last of her weapons down on the table with the others. “So, what did you bring back, Stiles?”

Stiles unloaded everything from his backpack, placing it on the same table that Allison had been using.

“Some bladed weapons, knives and such, and a few small guns,” said Stiles. “This computer should also be helpful. It’s connected to the Division’s mainframe. We can use it to see what they’re doing and get some intel on them.”

“Isn’t that a two way street?” asked Derek. “They’d be able to track us and get information, too.”

“Yeah, normally that’d be the case,” said Stiles. “But I didn’t like the idea of the Division monitoring my activity and location, so I used a favor from a techie friend of mine named Danny. Dude’s a genius at computers. He disabled that and installed the Fort Knox of firewalls on here. Trust me. They can’t find us.”

“That’s pretty convenient,” said Allison. “What can you find?”

“One sec. Let me look,” replied Stiles.

Stiles tapped several keys. His credentials had already been rejected, but that didn’t really matter. While he was at it, he’d had Danny write up a program to give him access to any files he wanted regardless of his credentials. In seconds, Stiles had everything pertaining to Scott, himself, and the order to send Peter. It wasn’t good.

As Stiles had thought, the Division had already figured out that Stiles had betrayed them. They also knew about Derek, Allison, and Lydia and their involvement with Scott. They’d dispatched Peter immediately and told him to use any means necessary or that he thought best to bring in Scott and eliminate everyone else. Worst of all, according to this information, they knew where Scott’s house was and Peter would be on his way once he landed. Stiles quickly relayed this information to everyone.

“So then the first part of Lydia’s vision will happen here,” observed Scott.

“Looks like it,” said Stiles. “An army of innocents. We’ll-”

“Take them out with tranquilizer and electro shock rounds,” interrupted Allison. “You didn’t think Scott would be okay with killing innocents, did you?”

Stiles felt the blood rush to his face. Of course he should have known that, but his first concern was Scott’s safety. If that meant some mind-controlled innocents had to die, so be it. But of course Scott wouldn’t look at it that way.

“I didn’t realize we had that kind of ammo,” said Stiles hurriedly. “My weapons don’t.”

“We have enough weapons with that sort of ammo to suffice,” said Allison. “We’ll keep the regular weapons in case we’re left with no choice.”

Stiles nodded.

“We’ll only use them as a last resort,” added Scott. “We’re not here to kill people.”

“I know, Scotty, but we also have to protect ourselves. To protect you,” said Stiles.

Scott just nodded slightly while Allison and Derek began loading the weapons with the non-lethal ammo. Stiles closed his eyes and focused on Peter. They had to know how close he was.

He was closer than they thought. The areas that Stiles’ mind flashed through were nearby areas. There seemed to be an unusual amount of people heading in a certain direction, though Stiles wasn’t sure which direction it was. Finally, he came to a stop in the hotel room. Peter was there with an evil grin on his face and it felt like he was looking directly at Stiles, as if he knew Stiles was watching him.

Stiles opened his eyes. Peter was here. The pieces clicked together. The unusual amount of people. They were Peter’s army.

“Guys, Peter’s army is on its way!” warned Stiles.

“What? Already?” asked Scott.

“Yes! I just saw him and them. They’re coming,” replied Stiles. “And they’re probably almost here.”

“We should run while we can,” proposed Lydia. “If we can avoid a fight that would be best.”

“Lydia’s right,” agreed Allison. “We should avoid a fight if we can, so let’s-”

Allison was cut off by a loud bang against the door. It sounded like something cracked.

“Well shit,” said Stiles.

A moment later, there was a crash followed by the sound of footsteps. They had kicked in the front door.

“We’ve gotta move!” exclaimed Derek, tossing a weapon to both Scott and Stiles.

Lydia drew her own handgun while Allison took aim in the direction the people would be coming. Scott and Stiles both quickly readied themselves with the weapons Derek had tossed them.

“Out the back,” said Allison calmly. “We can get away if we make it there.”

Stiles had no idea how they could escape from there, but everyone else seemed okay with it, so he figured they had a plan. They started moving to the back sliding door when the first people rounded the corner, guns already raised.

Allison didn’t hesitate. She fired off several rounds of tranquilizer bullets. felling several of the innocent. She didn’t miss a single mark. The encroaching mind controlled army began to open fire on them. With real live ammunition. Derek did his best to create shields where necessary.

They had nearly made it to the sliding door when another group of people appeared. They had gone around the back, creating a pincer.

“We’ve got trouble!” shouted Scott.

“Work together,” ordered Allion. “We’ve got this.”

Scott and Stiles fired some rounds into the glass door, shattering it. They weren’t as accurate as Allison, but they were taking out enemies nevertheless.

Peter’s army was spreading out, beginning to surround their small group. Stiles turned to face Scott just in time for Scott to pull Stiles into him, their bodies pressed against each other. Stiles was confused, but understood as he felt a bullet whiz by the back of his head. Scott had saved him.

“You cover my back and I’ll cover yours,” said Scott, drawing a second handgun with his left hand.

“You got it,” acknowledged Stiles. “Besides, I don’t mind this position.”

“Neither do I,” said Scott with a smile.

Stiles placed his arms over Scott’s shoulders, a gun in each hand, and started firing. Scott did the same, but with his arms under Stiles’ shoulders. Some might have found this to be an awkward way to fight, but Scott and Stiles did even better. They took out more enemies working together, moving and turning as a single unit. Even so, everyone had been fighting for too long now. Their base ammo was nearly out.

“Derek, we need an exit!” declared Allison, firing another round from her gun. “Now!”

Derek nodded and said, “Together then?”

Allison nodded, dropping her now empty gun. She focused, gathering he power. Derek did the same. After a few seconds, they could feel it. That flow. That connection. They had found when they focused hard enough, they could feed into each other’s power and pull off a powerful attack.

The molecules in the air condensed into two giant shields in front of each of them. Then they released their pent up power and the shields shot forward like a snowplow, slamming into their enemies on both sides. The attack sent their enemies flying like ragdolls. Their path was open.

“It’s clear! Let’s go!” shouted Allison.

Everyone hurried through the shattered glass door and out the back like they had originally planned. There was a car waiting in the back for them. There were more guns, ammo, and supplies already packed in the car. Stiles was impressed. They really were prepared to make a getaway at any time. Allison started the car and they sped off down the street.

* * *

Stiles wondered where they were going. He didn’t have to wonder for too much longer as Allison pulled into a garage that closed behind them. Everyone got out of the car as the garage light came on.

“Where are we?” asked Stiles.

“Our safehouse,” replied Scott. “We’ve never had to use it, but we always figured it’d be a good idea to have one.”

“You’re welcome,” Allison chimed in.

“It was Allison’s idea,” laughed Scott. “Thanks, Allison. You were right.”

Everyone followed Allison through the nearby door and into the main safehouse. It wasn’t a fancy house or a big one either, but it was good enough for what they needed. After all, it was meant to not draw attention.

“Sorry, but there’s only enough beds for me, Lydia, Derek, and Scott,” said Allison. “You’ll have to take the couch.”

Allison gestured towards an old and particularly lumpy looking coach in the living room. Stiles tried to hide his dismay. He shouldn’t have expected anything else though.

“Stiles can share a bed with me,” declared Scott suddenly. “Uh, if that’s alright with you, Stiles.”

Scott’s voice wavered with nervousness when he said that last part. He blushed. Stiles smiled, both thankful that Scott was willing to share a bed with him and because Scott looked incredibly cute when he was embarrassed or flustered.

“I don’t mind at all,” replied Stiles.

Allison groaned and rolled her eyes while Lydia and Derek smiled at them. Scott looked up excitedly at Stiles’ acceptance. He lead Stiles to his bedroom while the others made their way to their own.

The bedroom was small and largely unfurnished save for the queen size bed that took up most of the room. The only special thing was that it had its own bathroom. Scott and Stiles plopped down unceremoniously onto the bed. They both leaned back and sighed. Now that they were able to rest again, they realized just how tired they were. They also finally realized that they were covered in sweat, dirt, and fragments of broken glass, especially Scott who had been standing near the glass door when it shattered.

“Hey, you should go wash up,” suggested Stiles.

“You’re on to talk,” said Scott. “You look pretty rough yourself.”

“Still better than you, dude.”

They laughed at each other for a moment before Scott rolled off the bed and made his way for the shower.

“Guess I’ll go first then,” said Scott. “I won’t be long.”

Stiles nodded and rolled back onto the bed. A few seconds later, he heard the shower water start running.

Fifteen minutes had passed and the water was still running. Stiles wasn’t sure how long Scott usually took, but he was pretty sure that was longer than a short shower. He decided to wait another five minutes.

Those fives minutes came and went and Scott still hadn’t emerged. Stiles was beginning to worry a little bit. He got up from the bed and went into the bathroom where Scott was.

When he entered the bathroom, he heard a couple of sobs, as if someone was trying to keep their crying from being too loud.

“Scotty?” Stiles called out. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” replied Scott, his voice cracking.

“You don’t sound fine,” said Stiles, walking closer to the shower.

The sobs got more apparent as Stiles got closer to the shower. Stiles grabbed the shower curtain and slide it aside.

What Stiles saw when he pulled back the curtain made his heart break. Scott was leaning against the wall of the shower on his forearms with his head down as the water ran over him. He hadn’t even bothered to take his boxers off. Even with the water running over him, Stiles could still tell he’d been crying, probably the entire time he’d been in the shower.

“Stiles…” started Scott, not even turning to look at Stiles. “I’m… I’m fine.”

Stiles didn’t hesitate. He stepped into the shower, clothes and all, and wrapped his arms around Scott, pulling Scott close to him. Scott tensed for a moment out of surprise, but relaxed just as quickly.

“You’re not fine,” said Stiles. “You wouldn’t be having a break down in the shower if you were fine.”

“Stiles, your clothes are going to be soaked,” said Scott quietly, trying his best to deflect Stiles’ prying.

Stiles hugged Scott tighter and replied, “I don’t care about my clothes. They’ll dry. Now, tell me what’s wrong.”

“I said it’s nothing,” answered Scott quietly.”

“It’s clearly not nothing, Scotty. You don’t want to burden others with your problems, I know. You were like that even when we were kids. But, please… Please, let me help you share the burden.”

Stiles couldn’t help it. His own voice cracked a little on that last part. Scott raised his head in response.

“Okay, Stiles,” said Scott with a sniffle.

Scott finally turned to face Stiles, breaking their embrace. His eyes were puffy and red from crying. Stiles’ heart broke all over again when he saw Scott’s face.

“Scotty…” trailed off Stiles.

Scott smiled as best he could, but it looked strained. Stiles couldn’t tell what was tears and what was water from the shower.

So many thoughts raced through Scott’s head. The reprieve from them that Stiles’ embrace had given ended once they separated. The thoughts had been for a while, but once he was finally alone in the shower, they overwhelmed him. Everything had been happening so fast to him. They’d always stayed under the radar and been able to avoid the Division. Then they sent his childhood best friend after him. Sure, Stiles ultimately sided with him, but now they were on the run and people were actively trying to kill them. His house had been destroyed as had his clinic probably. Now his friends were in danger and on the run because of him. In the span of two days, his entire life, everything he’d worked so hard to build up so he could help people, had been ripped from him. It was all too much.

Scott felt sick. He leaned back against the now warm tiled wall of the shower and slid down it until he was sitting on the floor of the shower. His head was still spinning. Scott always managed to hold it together, even under stress. It bothered him that he was losing control like this and that only made things worse.

Scott felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He recognized those long, slender fingers. He looked up to see Stiles kneeling in front of him with a small, but warm smile on his face. Scott felt his head begin to clear just from that. There was something comforting about Stiles just being there.

“It’s okay to feel overwhelmed, Scott,” said Stiles softly, ignoring the shower water that was now fully running over him.

“It’s just so much at once,” started Scott. “Everyone’s in danger because of me. And all of those innocent people…”

Scott trailed off, looking down.

“Scott, that’s not your fault,” countered Stiles. “Look, you’re only human. You’ve made some great friends who would gladly share all your burdens with you. They’d do just about anything for you.”

Scott smiled at that. Stiles was right. Stiles shifted over to sit next to Scott and threw his arm around him.

“And, hey, you still got me. Or I guess you finally have me back,” continued Stiles. “So, if you won’t let them share it, I’ll take it all on for you. You of all people don’t deserve to suffer like this.”

Scott’s thoughts had gradually slowed the more Stiles talked. By the time Stiles was done, Scott’s mind was calm once again. Scott looked up at Stiles and leaned in, giving Stiles a passionate kiss on the lips.

Stiles’ eyes widened in surprise for a moment at Scott’s forwardness, but he didn’t mind it. He happily returned the kiss until Scott finally pulled away.

“Thanks, Stiles,” said Scott, his familiar smile finding its way back onto his face once more.

“That was a hell of a thank you,” replied Stiles, grinning.

Scott rolled his eyes, bumped Stiles with his shoulder, and said, “Shut up.”

“Well it was!” defended Stiles. “But you’re welcome. And, seriously, I meant every word.”

“I know you did,” said Scott. “We’re all going to make it through. But I’m definitely going to need you by my side.”

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, Scotty,” replied Stiles. “But I should let you finish your shower. I can come back when you’re done.”

Stiles stood up, but Scott grabbed his wrist before he could take a step.

“Wait,” said Scott. “We’re both already wet and your clothes are beyond soaked, so why don’t we just shower together.”

Stiles turned around to look at Scott and pulled him up using the hand Scott had grabbed.

“You sure?” asked Stiles.

“Yeah,” confirmed Scott, nodding.

Stiles stripped his shirt off and tossed it on the floor outside of the shower.

“Really sure?” asked Stiles again, smirking.

“Really sure,” replied Scott with a grin.

Stiles didn’t hesitate any further. He stripped the rest of his clothes off and tossed them on the floor outside the shower. Scott did the same with his boxers before sliding the curtain shut.

* * *

After Scott and Stiles had finished up in the shower, they took a nap together on Scott’s bed, barely bothering to put fresh boxers on. Several hours later, they woke up to a knock at the door. It was Allison.

“Hey, we need to talk about what we’re doing next,” came her voice through the door.

“Yeah, we’ll be out in a minute!” replied Scott.

They only heard footsteps moving away from the door as a response. Scott and Stiles hurriedly got dressed. Since Stiles didn’t have any extra clothes of his own after their hurried escape, he just borrowed some of Scott’s. Fortunately, they wore the same sizes. When they were fully clothed, they joined the others in the living room.

“We need a plan,” said Allison once everyone was seated. “So, let’s look at our options.”

“We could always keep moving,” suggested Derek. “We can find a shadow to help us.”

Stiles shook his head and said, “No, they’ll keep coming for us. Now that they know about you and know I betrayed them, they’ll never give up. Especially not with Peter on the job.”

“Don’t forget my vision,” added Lydia. “I saw us fighting Peter.”

“I don’t want to run either,” said Scott. “More innocent people will get hurt if we do that.”

“Ok, so running’s off the table,” acknowledged Allison. “Which is fine because I don’t like running anyway.”

“That means we’ll have to fight then,” said Derek. “How do we go about that.”

“We take the fight to them,” proposed Allison. “If we charge Peter, we may take him by surprise.”

“That could work,” agreed Stiles. “I can find Peter easily, but taking him out is another matter. If it comes down to it, we have to-”

“We’re not going to kill anyone,” interrupted Scott. “I save lives, not end them.”

Stiles frowned. He loved Scott and how he always wanted to try to save everyone, but sometimes that wasn’t possible. He stole a quick glance at Allison. Her expression, albeit brief, conveyed that she agreed with Stiles. Stiles returned his attention to Scott.

“Scotty, we’ll do our best, but it may come to that,” said Stiles.

“I agree with Stiles,” chimed in Allison. “If it comes to it, we need to kill Peter. He’ll keep coming after us if we don’t. You know that Scott.”

“I hate to agree with them, Scott, but they’re right,” said Derek with a small frown.

“But he’s your family, Derek!” objected Scott.

“Yeah, but I know what a threat he poses to us and others, Scott,” replied Derek. “It’d be better for everyone if he was gone.”

“Scott, if it comes down to it, you can use your powers to take Peter out,” said Stiles. “Stitches can also un-heal, especially talented ones. You could do it without ever firing a gun.”

“I’ll find a way without killing him,” said Scott stubbornly. “I will.”

“Yeah, I believe in you, Scott,” said Stiles, placing his hand over Scott’s. “If anyone can find a way, you can.”

Scott nodded at Stiles, his expression serious. Stiles knew what a burden the idea of killing someone placed on Scott. He resolved that if they had to kill Peter, and he was certain they would, he would do it. He’d do it for Scott. He would bear that burden so Scott wouldn’t have to. If Scott hated him for a while afterward, then so be it. At least Scott would be safe and that’s what was important.

“Alright. If we’re going to fight them, we need to be prepared,” said Allison. “We’ll take as many weapons as we can carry with us with both stun and live ammo. Stiles, we’ll need you to find Peter and scout the area. Lydia, if you can see any further into the future, that’ll help. If not, don’t worry about it.”

“I can contact some friends who would be willing to help us,” suggested Stiles. “One of them helped me get back into the hotel with a disguise.”

“She’s a shifter?” asked Allison. “That might be helpful.”

“Yeah and she’s also good with weapons, especially this one that’s like an electrified sword,” explained Stiles. “She prefers to knock out or stun her targets.”

“Sounds perfect,” said Scott.

“The other girl is a shadow, but she’s great at hand to hand combat,” continued Stiles. “She’ll be able to help us sneak in and with the fighting.”

“Good, good,” nodded Allison. “Okay, you get a hold of them while Derek and I prepare the weapons.”

Stiles nodded and pulled out his phone. Allison and Derek started preparing the weapons and extra ammo for the fight. Lydia tried her best to scry the future, but it remained clouded to her. She couldn’t see any further than what she had before and she cursed herself silently for not being able to see farther.

After Stiles hung up the phone, he rejoined Scott on the couch. They sat together holding hands while Allison and Derek finished up. They were both tense, but found solace in each other’s presence. They relaxed each other and made it easier to deal with.

A half hour later, there was a knock at the front door. Stiles went to answer it. He already knew who it was.

“Hey, Kira!” greeted Stiles as he opened the door. “Thanks for coming! You, too, Malia.”

“Well, I do owe you one,” said Kira as she strode gracefully through the door, her sword bouncing gently at her hip. “And I couldn’t miss the chance to meet this Scott you told me so much about as a kid.”

Stiles’ face turned bright red as Scott looked up at the comment.

“H-hey!” blurted out Stiles, flustered.

Kira and Malia laughed.

“You were right, Kira! He is easy to tease,” said Malia.

“Right? You just have to know where to press,” said Kira.

“That’s not nice,” mumbled Stiles, refusing to make eye contact with them.

“Sorry, Stiles,” said Kira. “I just had to.”

Kira and Malia walked past Stiles and into the living room where everyone was waiting.

“My name’s Kira and this is Malia,” said Kira. “We’re a team. A pretty great one at that.”

“I’ll say,” said Malia, playfully bumping into Kira with her shoulder with a wink.. “It’s nice to meet all of you.”

“This is Allison, Lydia, and Derek,” introduced Scott. “And I’m Scott.”

“Ah, so you’re Scott,” said Kira. “You did good, Stiles.”

“He didn’t really do you justice,” added Malia.

A deep shade of red spread across Scott’s face. Stiles facepalmed. He should have known these two wouldn’t pass up the chance to mess with him.

“I assume Stiles told you what we’re up against?” asked Allison.

“Yeah, he did,” answered Kira. “But we kind of had an idea before. After all, he came to me earlier for help with Peter. I had a feeling it’d catch up with him.”

“Don’t worry. We’re not afraid of a fight,” added Malia. “We can handle ourselves. Kira’s one of the greatest shifters in the world and I’m one of the best shadows. If worse comes to worse, we’ll be able to hide everyone until it’s safe again.”

“That’ll also be our way in,” said Allison. “With your shadow powers and Kira’s shifter powers, we can probably waltz our way in straight to Peter.”

“I may be a talented shifter, but giving a shift to everyone here at the same time will be difficult,” said Kira. “It’d be a good idea to wait until we’re close for me to shift everyone. Less chance of it falling apart before then.”

Allison nodded and said, “Sounds like a plan. Malia, can you maintain your shadow powers throughout?”

“Yeah. It’ll be a bit taxing, but since my powers focus on people to begin with, it’ll be a bit easier for me than Kira.,” replied Malia. “I can start whenever.”

“You should start when we start moving,” said Lydia. “That’d be the safest.”

“Agreed,” said Allison.

“I’m done with the weapons,” said Derek.  “We should be ready to go as soon as we distribute them.”

“Good. Stiles, find Peter and scout the surrounding area,” commanded Allison. “I want to know where to go and what we’re walking into.”

Stiles nodded and began to focus on Peter, reaching out with his mind. In an instant, he was flying across the city at a breakneck pace. His mind’s eyes swerved and turned so tight and fast until finally it came to a stop at a large house on the outskirts of the city. Stiles recognized it. It was one of the Division’s houses. They had many of these houses scattered across the globe. They were used to stage bigger operations or to create a defensive stronghold. If Peter was there, he knew they’d be coming for him.

That’s when it hit Stiles. That was his plan. He wanted them to come to him. Stiles should have known that because he was familiar with how Peter operated, plus they had Lydia’s vision. But that didn’t matter now. They had no choice but to go after him even is he was prepared.

Stiles searched for Peter’s exact location. He found him at the main room at the center of the house. He was watching TV with his feet propped up with a glass of whiskey in his hand. Once again, it looked like he was staring straight at Stiles as if he knew he was there. Peter was always unnerving like that.

Stiles panned out to scout the area. As expected, it was crawling with his minions. Few of them were Division agents. Most of them were innocents that Peter had pushed. It sickened Stiles to think that Peter was so powerful that he could control legions of people like this. His job complete, Stiles opened his eyes and relayed what he’d seen to the others.

“So we may not have surprise after all,” said Derek.

“No, we still might,” said Stiles. “He doesn’t know when we’re coming and if we mask ourselves, we can still largely sneak by.”

“Still, he is expecting us,” said Allison. “We’ll have to be careful.”

“Because you weren’t planning to already?” asked Malia. “We’ll be fine. You guys are tough and so are we. We got this.”

“I think Malia’s right,” said Scott. “We can do this.”

Everyone nodded in response to Scott’s comment. Without any further discussion, everyone made one final weapons check before they all piled into the van. Before they started to drive, Malia began to shadow them, masking them from any prying eyes. With their cloaking in place, they headed for Peter’s hideout.

* * *

They parked a few blocks away from the house so as not to attract attention to themselves. They hurried along the street until they were just outside of the house. They stopped for a moment.

“I think we should go ahead and shift everyone,” proposed Allison.

“You’re probably right,” agreed Kira. “We’re not far and we don’t want to get caught.”

“We should still try our best to sneak in instead of walking through the front door though,” said Derek.

“I think I saw a way,” said Stiles. “I’ll get us in.”

“I’ll do my best to keep all of you shifted, but it might not last that long,” cautioned Kira. “Be ready to fight at any moment in case it drops.”

“We’ll be ready,” said Allison confidently.

Kira nodded and focused. There was a shimmer of light around everyone. When the light had faded, they looked like entirely different people. Even their weapons were concealed by Kira’s shifting powers.

“You really are something, Kira,” admired Allison.

“She’s the best!” said Malia proudly.

“Thanks, guys,” replied Kira bashfully. “But we need to get going. I don’t know how long I can sustain this.”

“Right,” said Stiles. “Follow me.”

Everyone followed Stiles around the side of the house. The house had walls around it as well as some shrubbery and vines that covered the length of the walls. Stiles stopped when he reached a certain point on the wall and began tearing at the vines. After a few moments, he revealed part of a door. The others helped him to pull back more of the vines. Before long, the entire door had been revealed.

“It’s an emergency entrance and exit,” explained Stiles. “But it hasn’t been used in so long that everyone forgot about it and it was overgrown by the vines.”

“Nice job, Stiles,” said Allison. “Let’s go.”

The group made their way through the door and the hallway behind it. At the end of the path, they found themselves in the main entrance hall. No one had noticed their entrance, but there were several people milling around the area. All of them were armed.

Stiles motioned slightly with his head for the group to follow him. They made their way up the main staircase and towards the main hall. Several of Peter’s minions walked right by them and didn’t give them so much as a second glance. Their shifts were working.

They made their way out of the hallway and into a large room. There were a larger number of Division agents and pushed minions here.

“Peter is on the other side of that door across the room,” whispered Stiles.

“I guess he put extra people here just in case,” whispered Scott.

Stiles just nodded as they slowly made their way towards the door, trying to look and act casual. They had made it halfway across the room when disaster struck. One of the Division agents bumped into Scott.

Light shimmered and warped around the point of contact before the shift completely broke, revealing Scott’s true image.

“Oh, hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean-” started the Division agent. “Hey! You’re the one they’re looking for! You’re Scott!”

“Shit,” said Stiles.

“Everyone, they’re here!” shouted the Division agent. “Attack! Don’t let them escape or get to Peter!”

The room erupted into chaos. Everyone in the room turned to face them. Kira dropped the rest of the shifts. After all, it was pointless to keep them up if they’d already been caught. She drew her sword and pressed the button on it. Electricity arced across the dull metal blade. Malia punched her gauntlets together, sending a spray of sparks as the electricity coursed through them. Everyone else readied their guns.

Bullets began to fly from all directions. Derek, as usual, focused on creating barriers with his powers, taking extra care to defend Scott. Allison unloaded barrage after barrage of stun ammunition at their enemies, hitting someone with every bullet like the true marksman she was. Scott and Stiles stood back to back as they fired rounds from their handguns. Lydia did her best to provide covering fire for Derek.

Kira and Malia jumped straight into the fray, nimbly dodging bullets. This wasn’t their first time being shot at and it certainly wouldn’t be their last. Kira slammed her sword into a nearby agent, sending arcs of electricity throughout him. Without missing a beat, she swung it into the chest of another enemy in front of her. Malia slammed her right gauntlet into the chest of one the the pushed minions, sending them flying backwards from the force and the electricity coursing through her gauntlet. She turned on her heel and slammed her other gauntlet into the face of a Division agent who cried out in pain from both the electric shock and the breaking of his nose. Malia jumped over him and headed towards Kira. They were strong on their own, but when they were together, they were truly unstoppable.

Just as they started to make some progress in clearing out Peter’s minions, the doors to the main hall and other rooms flew open. More people began to charge into the room, taking the place of the fallen. They opened fire without hesitation.

“We can’t keep this up!” shouted Derek. “We’ll run out of ammo or get backed into a corner.”

“Scott, Stiles, you two make a break for Peter,” said Allison calmly as she fire off another round. “If you two take him out, it should release everyone who’s under his control.”

“I’m not leaving you guys!” protested Scott.

“Scott, she’s right,” said Stiles, gripping Scott’s shoulder. “It’s our only chance to save everyone and get out of here alive.”

“But-” started Scott.

“No buts! You have to go, Scott!” said Allison with finality.

Scott just nodded. He knew she was right, but he still hated what he was about to do.

“Everyone, clear a path for them! Go!” commanded Allison.

Everyone sprang into action immediately. They fell back to focus their efforts on clearing the enemies between them and Peter’s door. Once they had started to clear a path, Kira and Malia charged forward, beating enemies out of the way with their sword and gauntlets. Scott and Stiles ran behind them. They were almost to the door when Kira and Malia broke off to return to the others. There was no one left in front of them.

“Go!” said Kira as she ran past.

“Don’t worry, we’ll hold them off,” said Kira before slamming his fist into another enemy.

Scott and Stiles nodded at them. Stiles grabbed the handle of the door and swung it open. The two of them quickly ran inside, shutting the door behind them.

* * *

As they closed the door, they heard a clicking sound. The door had locked itself once they entered. A feeling a dread filled both Scott and Stiles. This is exactly what Peter had wanted. Them alone with no one to help them.

Peter sat in a comfortable chair at the far end of the room. He set his nearly empty glass of whiskey on the table and began to clap.

“Congratulations on making it this far, boys,” said Peter, his voice full of malice and insincerity. “I must say, I expected you to fall to some of my puppets. I mean, a stitch and a sniffer? Please. Neither of you are geared for combat.”

“Yet here we are,” said Stiles defiantly.

“Indeed. Here you are,” repeated Peter as an malevolent grin spread across his face. “Oh, trust me. It’s much more fun for me that you made it this far.”

“It’s two against one, Peter,” said Scott. “Just let all this go and no one has to get hurt.”

“Oh, but where’s the fun in that, Scott?” asked Peter. “I mean, I went through all this trouble to bring you here. Why would I just let you go?”

Scott could hear the subtle psychotic sound in Peter’s voice. It was unnerving. He could tell Stiles was already on edge, but Stiles knew more about Peter than anyone. Scott raised his gun and Stiles followed suit.

“You don’t have to do this, Peter,” said Scott once more. “I told you, we’ve got you outnumbered.”

“Not for long,” said Peter with a sinister overtone.

Scott and Stiles were confused. They were locked inside the room with just Peter. There was no one else. Then it hit Stiles. A sensation he had only felt once before. An invasive presence pushing its way into his mind. It was Peter.

Kill Scott McCall.

The command was simple and clear. Stiles felt compelled to do it. He felt his hand that held his gun twitch to begin to turn towards Scott.

No, thought Stiles. I don’t want to.

The thought echoed in his mind, growing in force and loudness. Stiles’ head throbbed from it.

“No. No. NO!” shouted Stiles, grasping his head. “I… I won’t…”

“Stiles, what’s wrong?” asked Scott, his voice full of concern.

“P-Peter,” stammered Stiles.

He couldn’t get anything else out. It was taking all of his effort to keep from giving in or going insane. It physically pained him. The voice in his head had grown to such an intense volume that he couldn’t hear anything else now.

Stiles saw Peter’s cold smirk, still sitting comfortably at the other end of the room. He saw Scott saying something, but he couldn’t hear him. Peter was too loud. Stiles felt himself falling away. He couldn’t resist forever. With his last bit of strength, Stiles choked out one last thing.

“Sorry… Scotty…”

With that, Stiles succumbed, his head dropping for a moment. His will was gone as Peter pushed the thought into his head. He raised his head and turned his gun on Scott.

“Now things are getting interesting,” chuckled Peter. “I must admit, I’ve never had such a problem pushing someone before. Guess he really cares about you. That makes this all the better.”

“Stiles! Snap out of it! It’s me Scott!” pleaded Scott.

“I know who you are, Scott,” replied Stiles coldly. “That’s why I’m going to kill you. After all, that’s my job.”

“Don’t you remember anything? We’re supposed to be taking down Peter!”

“Why would I help take down my partner? The Division sent him to help me like they have in the past.”

“That’s right, Stiles. We’re partners. Always have been. We make quite the team,” said Peter. “Now hurry up and finish him. You were begging me to let you be the one this time.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it,” said Stiles nonchalantly. “He’s just a stitch. He can’t do anything to me.”

“Of course,” nodded Peter. “I’ll leave it to you then.”

Scott was astounded. Peter had pushed such a complex thing into Stiles’ mind. There was no way Stiles would have ever believed that. Scott’s heart sank as he realized what that meant. Stiles was fully under Peter’s control and there was nothing he could do about that. No, there was something. He could take out Peter.

“I’m coming for you, Peter!” roared Scott as he turned to charge towards Peter, raising his gun again.

A gunshot hit the ground in front of Scott, stopping him in his tracks.

“Hey, I’m your opponent. Leave my partner out of this,” said Stiles, taking aim at Scott with his gun.

Scott realized he wouldn’t be able to reach Peter without taking out Stiles first. That thought pained him deeply. He didn’t have much time to make a decision. Something Stiles had said earlier came back to him. Stitches could un-heal. Scott had a plan. He wasn’t sure it would work, but he was going to try.

Just before Stiles could fire off a round, Scott took off running towards Peter who didn’t even flinch. He ran in a random zigzagging pattern so Stiles couldn’t easily target him. Stiles chased Scott, just as he hoped. When Scott was close enough to Peter, he stopped, turning on his heel to face Stiles.

Stiles was caught off guard and momentarily stunned from confusion. Scott didn’t hesitate. He moved in, touching his hands to just above Stiles’s elbows and focused for a moment. Stiles screamed in pain as his arms went limp. Scott immediately dropped to a knee and placed his hands just below Stiles’ kneecaps, focusing again. Stiles screamed in agony and collapsed to the ground, completely immobile. Scott’s plan had worked. He’d severed Stiles’ key ligaments. Scott turned to face Peter who had a bemused look on his face.

“My, my,” said Peter. “I didn’t think you’d actually take him out. Though it is disappointing you didn’t kill him. Ah well. No matter. You’ll both be dead soon.”

Scott didn’t say anything. He lunged at Peter, knocking him over in his chair. They crashed to the ground together and tussled on the floor. In the end, Peter was on top of Scott. For the first time, Peter looked truly angry.

“You little brat!” shouted Peter, breathing heavily. “How dare you attack me! Pushing isn’t good enough for you. No, no, no. I’m going to kill you myself.”

Peter grasped Scott’s neck with his hands and squeezed. Scott gasped. Peter was incredibly strong. But this was exactly where Scott had wanted Peter.

Scott reached up and grabbed Peter’s wrists and ran his hands all the way down to above Peter’s elbows. He cut every ligament and muscle he found on the way. Peter cried out in pain as his arms and hands went limp, releasing Scott’s neck.. With the sudden loss of support from his arms, Peter fell onto Scott.

Scott placed his hands on Peter’s temples and focused. He knew he had to be very precise or he’d kill Peter. He knew exactly where to go. He knew his anatomy perfectly and he could feel it. It came naturally to him. With surgical precision, Scott severed something inside Peter’s brain.

Peter screeched and rolled off of Scott. He began to roll around on the floor.

“What did you do to me?!” shouted Peter over and over.

Scott sat up, taking a moment to catch his breath and rub his neck.

“I took away your pusher powers,” answered Scott.

“What?” asked Peter in disbelief. “That’s not possible. No stitch could be that talented.”

“If you don’t believe me, try to use your powers,” said Scott.

Scott watched as Peter strained. It didn’t take long for the realization to set in for Peter.

“No… No! NO!” shouted Peter.

“It’s nothing less than what you deserve,” said Scott. “You hurt, abused, and manipulated so many people with your powers. Now you can never do it again. You should be happy I spared your life.”

Scott ignored Peter as he devolved into inaudible shouting and went to Stiles who seemed to have regained control of his own mind.

“I’m so sorry, Stiles,” said Scott as started to heal the injuries he’d inflicted upon Stiles.

Stiles just smiled at Scott and said, “This is nothing, Scott. See? I told you you’d find a way.”

“Thanks, Stiles. But I wouldn’t have thought of it if you hadn’t mentioned that some stitches can un-heal things, too.”

“Nah, you’re too smart, Scott. You’d have figured it out.”

Once Stiles was healed, Scott pulled Stiles into a tight hug. After a few moments, the door that was locked was blown open with a bang as the doors went flying off the handles. Scott and Stiles jumped at the sudden noise and turned to see Allison, Derek, and everyone else running towards them. Allison and Derek must have used their mover abilities to blast the door open. They all seemed to have some minor injuries, but other than that they were fine.

“He’s still alive?” asked Allison.

“It’s okay,” said Scott. “I took away his pusher abilities. He’s harmless. More or less.”

“You can do that?” asked Derek in amazement.

“Apparently so,” shrugged Scott.

“Well, as long as he’s taken care of, then we can leave,” said Allison.

“Yeah, we should get moving,” agreed Kira. “Lingering might not be a good idea, even if everyone is released from Peter’s control.”

Scott nodded and helped Stiles to his feet. They turned to face Peter who had finally stopped screaming.

“Tell the Division not to send anyone else after us,” said Scott.

“If they do, let them know we will come for them,” added Stiles. “We’ll take them all down.”

“You of all people should know they’ll never stop,” laughed Peter. “They’ll keep coming.”

“We’ll be ready,” said Scott confidently. “If they want a war, we’ll bring it to them.”

“Such a naive little boy,” murmured Peter. “So incorruptible that you can’t even kill your biggest threat.

“It’s better than being a monster like you,” countered Scott.

Peter just laughed in response.

“Let’s go, Scotty,” said Stiles.

Scott nodded and they rejoined the others. They made their way out of house and back towards their van.

“So, Kira, Malia,” said Scott on the way. “Would you two be interested in joining us?”

Kira and Malia exchanged a quick glance, but they both smiled.

“Well, the Division does know our faces now,” said Kira. “And I do think Malia and I could use a change of pace.”

“I’m in if you’re in,” said Malia. “I think it’ll be fun.”

“Great! We’re happy to have you!” said Scott.

Everyone else welcomed the two to their team as they drove down the street. They stopped to pack their things from the safe house and house while Kira and Malia returned home to gather their own things. Once everyone was packed and read, they met up at Scott’s house.

Kira and Malia drove up in a bright red sports car. Stiles insisted that he and Scott take his Jeep.

“Isn’t that a rental, Stiles?” asked Scott. “You have to return it eventually.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, Scotty!” said Stiles with a broad grin. “It’s all taken care of. Roscoe here is here to stay.”

“You named it?”

“Her, Scotty, her! She needs a proper name if she’s gonna be part of our new crew.”

Scott sighed, but couldn’t help smiling. This was the Stiles he’d fallen in love with. He wouldn’t have him any other way.

“That’s probably best anyway,” interjected Lydia. “We packed so much stuff into the van that we barely have room for me, Allison, and Derek.”

She flashed the two of them a quick smile and said, “You two have fun.”

With that, she turned around and rejoined Allison and Derek in the van. Scott and Stiles exchanged a quick look followed by a shrug before they climbed into Stiles’ Jeep. A few moments later, they were on the road for a new city with Allison’s van leading the way.

Scott and Stiles drove for a while in silence. It wasn’t awkward for them. Just being around each other felt right and was calming. Stiles imagined even he could sit in silence with Scott forever and be content. Eventually, however, Stiles spoke up.

“We’ve been through a lot, huh?” said Stiles.

“Yeah, but we’re okay and we’re all together,” replied Scott. “We even picked up some new friends. It was rough, but I’m glad we made it out just fine.”

“That’s true, but, most of all, I’m glad I found you again.”

“Me, too. Guess you were right. I’ve still got you.”

“And you’ll always have me, okay, Scotty?”

“Yeah, I know. I love you, Stiles.”

Scott said those words with one of the most brilliant and sincere smiles Stiles had ever seen. Stiles couldn’t help but smile at those words. They were words he hadn’t heard in a very long time. For the first time since he’d left Scott as a kid, Stiles felt like he was home.

“I love you, too, Scott,” said Stiles. “With all my heart.”

Scott slid his hand over to where Stiles’ hand was resting on the seat between them. He interlaced his fingers with Stiles’. Their hands fit together perfectly and comfortably. Scott and Stiles smiled as they held each other’s hands and followed along behind Allison, driving off into the sunset and onward to their new future together.


End file.
